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Chinese 
Womanhood 
of  Today 


Miss  Martha  E.  Wiley 

V - J 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/chinesewomanhoodOOwile 


Chinese  Womanhood  of  Today 

Miss  Martha  E.  Wiley 

All  the  world  is  familiar  with  the  political 
conditions  that  brought  about  the  present  revolu- 
tion, but  few  stop  to  think  that  these  conditions 
are  not  to  be  changed  merely  by  a successful 
revolution.  The  basal  principles  of  character 
are  of  too  deep  a nature  to  be  changed  by  the 
adoption  of  a few  new  and  extraneous  customs. 
Nothing  less  than  the  vitalizing  power  of  Christ 
can  make  China  what  she  ought  to  be.  No- 
where is  the  need  of  a higher  standard  more 
evident  than  in  the  attitude  toward  women,  and 
in  woman’s  attitude  toward  life. 

No  sweeping  change  in  politics,  government, 
or  theories  of  education  bears  the  same  im- 
portance to  China  as  does  this  great  problem. 
Once  after  a missionary  address  in  America  an 
interested  listener  remarked:  “What  is  the  use 
of  further  talk  about  the  needs  of  Chinese 
women?  They  have  their  feet  unbound  now 
and  they  can  walk  about  and  find  out  things 
for  themselves.’’ 

True,  the  Chinese  Avomen  who  have  come 
within  the  sphere  of  Christian  influence  are  be- 
ginning to  desire  to  “walk  around  and  find  out 
things  for  themselves,”  and  it  is  our  obligation 
as  Christian  women  to  see  that  they  not  only 
find  out  the  things  that  are  pure  and  lovely  but 
that  they  follow  after  these  things.  Let  us  not 
be  deluded  by  the  idea  that  “New  China”  has 
set  right  the  abuses.  The  merest  beginnings 
have  been  made.  The  struggle  has  begun  but 


i 


it  is  against  the  powers  of  darkness  that  have 
been  in  control  these  many  years  and  are  still 
entrenched  in  the  heart  of  each  one. 

What,  it  is  asked,  darkens  the  life  of  a Chi- 
nese woman  that  is  not  common  to  women  of 
every  land  ? 

Let  iis  go  to  the  beginning  of  a Chinese 
woman’s  life  and  live  with  her  some  of  the 
problems.  When  her  first  baby  wail  is  heard 
there  is  mingled  with  it  the  disappointed  pro- 
tests of  relatives,  and  even  of  the  parents  re- 
sponsible for  her  existence.  Why  could  not  a 
boy  have  been  their  good  fortune?  If  the  fam- 
ily is  fairly  comfortable  the  little  one  may  be 
spared  to  “eat  rice;”  if  not  her  baby  cry  is 
heard  no  more  in  the  house. 

Stone  land-marks  sometimes  have  on  them 
the  inscription:  “Drowning  of  babies  is  forbid- 
den,” and  numerous  proclamations  of  officials 
condemn  the  practice  but  it  is  only  a little  less 
common  than  heretofore  outside  the  ports  and  in 
communities  untouched  by  Christianity.  In  the 
cities  other  methods  of  evading  the  responsibil- 
ity of  bringing  up  the  child  are  used,  one  of 
which  is  to  leave  the  child  at  the  receiving  sta- 
tion kept  open  by  the  authorities.  If  the  infant 
survives  she  may  be  passed  on  to  some  one  who 
wants  a little  slave  girl,  or  she  may  be  taken  as 
the  future  wife  of  some  infant  whose  people  are 
too  poor  to  provide  a wife  in  any  other  way. 
During  the  years  that  she  is  growing  up  to  an 
age  where  marriage  is  allowable  she  is  practi- 
cally the  slave  of  the  family. 

Often  children  are  left  on  the  street  for  the 
police  to  pick  i;p.  A nun  in  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic orphanage  in  a suburb  of  Foochow  told  the 
writer  that  the  babies  sent  to  the  orphanage 
yearly  numbered  from  one  to  several  thousand 


blit  that  their  condition  was  such  that  most  of 
them  soon  died.  This  is  the  condition  in  the 
capital  city  of  the  “best  evangelized  province 
in  the  empire  ! ’ ’ 

The  country  missionaries  are  well  aware  that 
the  evil  is  as  rampant  as  formerly.  A lady  for 
many  years  a missionary  in  Fukien  says  that  in 
her  district  the  people  of  the  mountain  villages 
unblusliingly  state  that  eight  out  of  every  ten 
girls  born  are  made  way  with  in  some  manner. 
Another  missionary  in  charge  of  an  orphanage 
recently  said  that  during  the  “Year  of  the 
Tiger”  the  infant  girls  left  at  her  door  exceeded 
those  left  for  some  years  previous. 

There  is  a cycle  of  twelve  years  under  which 
all  children  are  born.  Each  year  bears  the  name 
of  an  animal  and  before  betrothal  the  cycle  year 
of  the  girl  must  be  ascertained.  The  animal 
must  be  one  which  can  be  controlled  by  the 
animal  governing  the  year  of  the  boy’s  birth. 
For  example,  if  the  girl’s  cycle  year  is  the  rat 
and  the  boy’s  the  dog  all  will  go  merrily  for  the 
boy  will  be  master,  but  if  the  girl  is  born  in  the 
Tiger  Year  who  will  be  able  to  control  her,  for 
the  tiger  is  the  king  of  beasts ! Hence  the  girls 
born  in  the  Tiger  Year  will  not  be  desirable  as 
Avives  and  will  not  be  worth  the  bringing  \ip. 
This  is  not  ancient  history,  this  is  China  at  the 
present  time. 

But  let  the  girl  grow  into  a fat  little  mite 
Avith  chubby  arms  and  a smile  for  every  one  and 
she  is  fondled  and  petted  until  her  little  lady- 
ship rules  the  house.  If  there  happens  to  be  no 
boy  to  monopolize  the  honors  she  grows  into  an 
uncontrolled  and  utterly  undisciplined  child.  If 
she  cries  for  anything  that  is  reason  sufficient 
Avhy  she  should  have  it.  Her  fits  of  temper 
grow  more  and  more  frecpient  until  she  be- 
3 


WOMAN  UNBINDING  HER  FOOT. 


comes  too  unbearable  and  then  a reckoning 
comes.  The  father  or  mother  observes  that  she 
is  “big  enough  to  whip”  and  she  gets  all  that 
has  accrued  to  her  during  the  past.  A bamboo 
clothes  pole,  or  a stool,  or  anything  else  handy 
will  serve  to  whip  the  girl  and  give  vent  to  the 
parent’s  wrath,  for  he  had  his  temper  trained 
in  the  same  school. 

Fortunately  the  screams  that  once  rang 
through  the  rooms  of  most  Chinese  homes  as 
the  feet  of  little  girls  were  being  bound  are 
becoming  less  and  less  in  the  ports  and  in  places 
influenced  by  foreign  agitation  against  the  cus- 
tom. But  though  this  custom  is  doomed  it  is  far 
from  being  ended.  In  foreign  countries  the 
supposition  is  that  the  missionaries  have  ended 
the  struggle  and  that  the  Chinese  are  falling 
into  line  and  that  no  more  need  be  said  on  the 
tiresome  subject. 

During  the  past  two  months  the  writer  has 
personally  passed  through  hundreds  of  villages 
in  many  country  districts  from  Fukien  to  Peking 
and  among  the  throngs  of  women  who  swarmed 
about  the  strange  foreign  ladies  at  the  inns  none 
had  unbound  their  feet.  A missionary  long 
resident  in  a difficult  station  of  Shantung  stated 
that  she  could  count  on  her  fingers  all  the  non- 
Christian  Avomen  who  had  unbound  their  feet. 
And  strange  to  say  in  places  Avhere  foreigners 
seldom  go  the  remark  is  current:  “Foreign 
women  bind  their  waists  and  we  only  bind  our 
feet.”  On  this  tour  in  three  different  hospitals 
were  seen  cases  where  amputation  of  the  foot 
was  necessary  because  of  injuries  received  by  too 
tightly  binding  the  bones. 

But  cruel  as  this  custom  is,  there  is  another 
bondage — that  of  heart  and  mind — that  is  even 
Avorse.  Yards  of  bandages  around  broken  feet 


cannot  compare  with  the  fettefs  forged  by  evil 
customs  and  superstitions  around  her  life  dur- 
ing what  should  be  the  pure  sweet  years  of  bud- 
ding womanhood.  Her  baby  ears  hear  impure 
words  and  vile  oaths,  her  eyes  see  licentiousness 
about  her;  her  observation  shows  her  that  truth 
is  disregarded  if  falsehood  will  serve  better. 

In  Christian  lands  even  the  child  of  non- 
Christian  parents  is  surrounded  by  an  atmos- 
phere of  Christian  standards ; in  China  even  the 
child  of  Christian  parents  is  handicapped  by  the 
prevalence  of  heathen  wickedness  about  him.  A 
Japanese  student  of  social  conditions  in  America 
was  asked  his  impressions  and  replied : “I  have 
seen  here  evils  blacker  than  in  my  own  land  but 
on  the  other  hand  I have  felt  a power  for  posi- 
tive goodness  and  unselfish  service  that  is  im- 
possible outside  a land  that  is  essentially  Chris- 
tian.” This  “power  for  positive  goodness”  is 
lacking  and  how  woeful  the  lack  is  can  be  real- 
ized only  by  those  who  know  the  inner  life  of 
the  people. 

Will  not  modern  education  solve  the  prob- 
lem? Christian  education  lias  been  and  yet  is 
doing  Wonders  to  eradicate  the  evils  learned  in 
early  life  in  the  students  under  its  influence,  but 
how  few  these  are  compared  to  the  great  host 
that  have  no  such  advantages ! Up  to  the  pres- 
ent time  the  efforts  of  the  government  to  deal 
with  the  problem  have  been  practically  futile. 

In  the  city  of  Foochow  the  girls  actually  in 
the  government  schools  are  estimated  at  one- 
tenth — which  is  doubtless  a very  generous  esti- 
mate— while  nine-tenths  of  the  great  total  are 
untaught.  And  this  is  not  taking  into  consid- 
eration the  country  girls  where  the  ‘ ‘ blind  cows ' ’ 
can  work  just  as  AVell  in  the  fields  without  know- 
ing characters.  For  the  most  part  the  instruc- 

6 


tion  given  in  the  public  schools  will  not  raise 
the  ideal  of  womanhood. 

A feeble  effort  is  made  to  teach  ethics. 
Stories  of  filial  piety  and  loyalty  to  the  govern- 
ment are  the  common  subjects  of  the  “Ethics.” 
With  capable  teachers  the  instruction  would  be 
inadequate,  without  such  the  teaching  is  the 
merest  sham.  Many  of  the  positions  are  filled 
by  women  who  obtained  a smattering  of  edu- 
cation in  Japan.  One  woman  in  a prominent 
position  made  a reputation  as  an  “Amazon”  and 
bomb-thrower  and  her  employment  is  in  the 
nature  of  “to  the  victor  belong  the  spoils.” 

No  matter  how  good  the  equipment  or  how 
beautiful  the  grounds  the  government  is  not  able 
to  cope  with  this  problem.  Teachers  of  ability 
and  character  are  the  product  of  Christian  ethics 
and  Christian  example.  Hence  it  behooves  all 
who  love  China  to  do  their  utmost  to  bring 
Christian  education  to  China  at  least  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  provide  teachers — Christian  teach- 
ers— else  how  can  these  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  girls  be  educated  in  any  true  sense  of  the 
Avord  ? 

But  what  about  the ’great  majority  of  girls 
who  do  not  have  even  these  limited  advantages? 
Their  employment  varies  according  to  the  finan- 
cial conditions  of  the  parents.  If  there  is  enough 
to  eat  they  are  content  to  sit  about  day  after  day 
and  worry  their  heads  with  no  useless  cares. 

In  cities  the  girls  often  try  to  earn  a little 
by  needlework.  One  Avav  to  break  the  dead 
monotony  is  to  bring  in  a “reader.”  a woman 
who  can  read  books  that  are  obscene.  Another 
and  more  common  Avay  is  to  gamble.  The  extent 
to  Avhich  Avomen  Avaste  time  in  this  Avay  may 
possibly  be  understood  by  some  of  the  Avomen  in 


7 


FACING  THE  FUTURE. 


American  churches.  The  fascination  of  the  gam- 
ing-table was  never  known  to  flag. 

The  scolding  that  takes  place  among  the 
women  is  also  a marvel  as  to  the  time  consumed. 
Sometimes  a half-day  is  devoted  to  the  stormy 
discussion  as  to  the  rightful  owner  of  a needle 
or  some  other  equally  important  subject.  The 
dearth  of  matter  for  interesting  conversation 
can  well  be  understood  when  we  consider  Avhat 
our  own  conversation  would  be  if  we  had  few 
or  no  books  to  read.  When  we  think  of  the  stag- 
nation of  the  city  girl’s  life  the  village  girl’s 
condition,  even  though  she  works  to  the  limit 
of  her  strength,  is  preferable. 

But  no  matter  what  the  condition  of  the 
parents  very  early  in  the  girl’s  life  they  are 
casting  about  to  find  a husband  who  can  pay 
back  all  the  money  invested  in  the  girl’s  food, 
unless,  as  is  common,  the  girl  has  been  betrothed 
in  infancy.  Just  this  month  when  interference 
was  made  with  a father  for  exorbitant  charges 
for  his  daughter  he  angrily  exclaimed:  “If  I 
had  fed  a pig  until  she  was  big  and  fat  I’d  get 
more  money  than  this !”  The  bickerings,  decep- 
tions, quarrels,  and  recriminations  that  take 
place  between  the  contracting  parties  would 
cause  a person  who  had  never  seen  such  a matter 
transacted  to  stand  aghast.  Even  at  the  last 
minute  the  parents  of  the  bride  often  hold  up  a 
wedding  until  more  monev  is  extorted  from  the 
hapless  groom.  In  one  instance  the  bride  sat 
weeping  in  her  chair  in  the  midst  of  a plowed 
field  while  the  bridegroom’s  father  rushed  fran- 
tically aboAit  borrowing  an  extra  hundred  dol- 
lars to  give  to  the  bride’s  mother  as  a peace 
offering  before  the  bridal  journey  to  the  hus- 
band’s house  could  be  resumed. 

When  the  bride  reaches  the  home  of  the 


9 


groom  in  her  great  red  chair  new  difficulties 
await  her.  Without  choice  in  regard  to  her 
husband,  she  is  similarly  without  choice  in  re- 
gard to  her  mother-in-law,  and  both  are,  in  the 
scheme  of  the  bride’s  happiness,  of  equal  im- 
portance. Chastity  and  a good  reputation,  so 
far  as  can  be  found  out,  are  required  of  the 
bride  but  they  are  not  a requisite  for  a husband. 
She  is  his  and  obedience  to  him  and  his  mother 
is  her  first  law.  A little  flicker  of  spirit  will  bring 
down  oil  her  head  a whole  avalanche  of  domestic 
troubles.  Her  early  training  when  she  was  al- 
lowed to  lie  on  her  back  and  kick  her  heels  into 
the  floor  in  sheer  anger  have  prepared  her  ill  for 
this  stage  of  her  life,  but  it  must  be  endured  and 
the  process  is  long  and  bitter. 

From  the  time  that  she  is  old  enough  to 
understand,  marriage  is  the  objective  point  of 
her  parents  on  her  behalf,  and  now  that  she  is 
actually  married  this  new  role  has  its  objective. 
Until  a son  has  been  born  to  her  she  feels  that 
her  position  as  wife  is  very  insecure.  The  tens 
of  thousands  of  “Mother  Goddesses’’  through- 
out China  testify  to  this  fear  in  the  minds  of  the 
young  brides.  The  very  classics  whose  purity  of 
diction  and  high  standard  of  morals  are  the 
admiration  of  the  world  are  directly  responsible 
for  woman’s  greatest  degradation.  There  are 
seven  chief  sins  enumerated  in  the  classics  and 
among  the  most  heinous  is  barrenness. 

Not  to  bring  a son  into  the  world  to  continue 
the  ancestral  worship  is  a direct  affront  to  the 
husband  and  all  the  generations  before  him.  It 
is  proof  conclusive  that  if  she  has  not  sinned  in 
this  life  she  has  in  some  previous  existence  and 
she  is  out  of  favor  with  the  spirits,  good  and 
bad.  She  may  be  repudiated  for  this  cause,  or 
as  is  most  often  the  ease,  she  is  displaced  by  an- 


io 


other  woman  and  the  griefs  and  strifes  that  arise 
turn  her  very  soul  to  gall,  if  by  any  chance  she 
has  learned  to  love  her  husband.  Passing  by 
book  stalls  in  America  there  are  sometimes  seen 
such  titles  as:  “He  fell  in  love  with  his  wife,” 
or  “She  became  acquainted  with  her  husband." 
This  might  literally  be  the  case  and  sometimes 
a real  affection  springs  up,  but  in  most  cases  a 
far  less  noble  sentiment  seals  their  relationship. 

The  sadness  of  the  first  wife’s  position  is  in- 
creased by  the  knowledge  that  often  the  second- 
ary wives  are  the  choice  of  the  husband  and  she 
was  not  his  personal  choice.  Furthermore,  the 
husband  often  chooses  the  secondary  wife  from 
the  only  place  possible  for  him  to  know  per- 
sonally pel-sons  of  the  opposite  sex,  and  the 
silence  and  sullen  contempt  of  the  first  wife  has 
often  burst  out  like  the  flames  of  a long  smoul- 
dering fire  when  the  secondary  wife  becomes  the 
mother  of  a son.  And  the  secondary  wife  is  no 
less  an  object  of  pity,  for  it  xvas  not  her  choice 
that  first  of  all  made  her  an  inmate  of  such  a 
place,  nor  did  she  have  the  power  to  refuse  to 
be  purchased. 

A jealousy  and  hatred  almost  incomprehen- 
sible springs  up  between  these  women  who  are 
bound  to  live  together  in  the  same  establish- 
ment. There  have  been  instances  where  a seem- 
ing love  existed  between  the  older  and  younger 
wives  but  on  a closer  intimacy  it  was  found  to 
be  only  assumed  before  the  stranger  and  the  in- 
variable hatred  was  there.  Nor  does  the  birth 
of  a son  free  the  first  wife  from  the  fear  of  other 
wives  being  added,  as  a glance  at  the  higher 
classes  in  China  will  prove.  The  Chinese  are  most 
proud  of  their  family  life  and  yet  those  who  love 
China  most  and  have  served  her  longest  feel  that 
this  is  the  rock  on  which  she  is  splitting,  and 


CHINESE  KITCHEN  SHOWING  METHOD  OF  PREPARING  FOOD. 


that  the  corruption  and  suspicion  and  hatreds 
and  jealousies  and  intrigues  and  selfishness  are 
all  planted  and  fostered  in  the  impure  atmos- 
phere of  the  polygamous  home  and  burst  out  in 
shameful  distinctness  in  the  national  life. 

But  sometimes  when  a son  is  born  the  young 
mother  forgets  her  fears  and  she  acquires  new 
dignity  in  her  husband’s  family.  She  can  now 
look  forward  to  the  time  when  she  too  shall  be 
a mother-in-law  and  manage  her  son ’s  wife.  Her 
object  has  again  changed — first  from  marriage 
to  motherhood  and  now  to  that  blessed  pinnacle 
of  honor,  to  be  a mother-in-law.  Hoav  happy  she 
will  be  sitting  in  the  highest  seat  and  sipping 
tea  carried  to  her  by  an  obedient  daughter-in- 
law  while  little  grandchildren  tumble  about  her 
feet ! 

But  should  the  little  son  sicken  and  die  the 
blame  is  hers.  Or  should  any  other  calamity 
befall  the  family  the  newest  bride  is  responsible. 
The  family  make  her  feel  her  wickedness  in  no 
uncertain  Avay.  When  her  grief  is  too  much  for 
her  to  bear  there  is  but  one  way  out  of  the  diffi- 
culty and  that  is  suicide.  This  very  month  a 
bride  in  one  of  the  great  families  of  the  city 
committed  suicide  on  the  night  after  her  mar- 
riage, but  more  often  the  bereaved  mother  or  the 
barren  Avife  take  their  OAvn  lives.  Even  yester- 
day in  a small  hospital  in  the  suburbs  three  such 
cases  of  attempted  suicide  were  brought  in. 

But  Avhen  old  age  is  finally  reached  children 
and  grandchildren  care  for  the  aged  one  with  a 
solicitude  that  is  often  very  beautiful.  The  best 
place  is  ahvays  hers  and  the  choicest  food  is 
prepared  for  her  and  you  are  lost  in  admiration 
for  the  people  that  sIioav  such  veneration  for  the 
aged.  But  your  admiration  receives  a shock 
AAdien  you  find  that  it  is  not  for  the  aged,  but 

13 


for  the  aged  that  belongs  to  that  particular 
family.  Another  aged  grandmother  might  sit 
on  the  steps  and  beg,  while  a choice  meal  was 
being  served  and  it  would  not  excite  the  least 
pity  or  the  obligation  to  relieve  the  stranger’s 
trouble. 

And  in  the  selfish  old  woman  can  be  seen  the 
fruitage  of  the  untrained  girl.  All  the  best 
tilings  are  accepted  as  the  only  possible  course. 
There  is  rarely  a spirit  of  giving  up  the  least 
thing  for  another. 

That  her  selfish  old  soul  may  be  sure  of 
numerous  descendants  she  lias  kept  members 
of  her  family  at  home  in  idleness  until  their  lives 
were  ruined.  She  has  often  caused  her  djaughter- 
in-law  to  “eat  bitterness”  worse  than  her  own 
had  been.  The  tender  mercies  of  the  heathen 
are  very  cruel  when  the  opportunity  comes  to 
throw  back  onto  another  what  has  been  suffered, 
even  though  the  wrong  once  endured  has  no 
connection  with  the  person  about  to  suffer  the 
fresh  injury. 

Perhaps  the  time  when  our  Chinese  sisters 
most  need  our  help  is  in  sickness.  The  diseases 
and  discomforts  that  might  be  cured  by  a very 
little  care  are  allowed  to  continue  until  the  most 
loathsome  maladies  are  seen  even  Avhile  riding 
through  the  streets. 

But  in  her  hour  of  great  need  when  she 
goes  down  into  the  “Valley  of  the  Shadow” 
often  she  does  not  return.  A few  minutes  aid 
from  a foreign  physician  would  have  saved  her. 
When  you  have  been  ill  recall  the  loving  minis- 
trations of  friends,  the  spotlessness  of  your  cpiiet 
room,  think  what  these  women  endure  when  ill- 
ness comes  to  them. 

When  fever  is  burning  out  the  very  life,  fire- 
cracker demonstrations  to  scare  the  devil  are 
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scarcely  an  adequate  help.  When  the  body  is 
writhing  in  agony  the  chanting  of  priests  and  the 
beating  of  drums  fail  to  comfort.  When  you 
can  look  up  into,  the  face  of  your  Saviour  and 
know  that  all  things  work  together  for  good, 
think  of  your  sisters  who  believe  themselves  the 
victims  of  malignant  spirits.  You  know  in  whom 
you  have  believed,  they  fear  they  know  not  what. 

If  Christianity  brought  nothing  else  to  the 
women  of  China  but  freedom  from  fear  it  would 
more  than  justify  the  effort.  Every  stage  of  her 
life  is  full  of  fear.  Even  babyhood  is  not  an  ex- 
ception. The  mother  enforces  her  feeble  com- 
mands with  threats  that  the  five  devils  will  seize 
the  child  if  she  is  disobedient.  Sometimes  the 
foreigner  is  substituted  for  their  five  majesties. 
Darkness  is  peopled  with  ghosts  and  goblins.  A 
Christian  graduate  of  a mission  college  sprang 
into  the  study  of  a missionary  one  evening, 
“Why  this  haste?”  was  asked.  The  reply  was 
that  the  mind  knew  that  fear  of  devils  was  fool- 
ish but  that  the  heart  still  believed  in  them. 

Fear  of  being  sold  is  a terrible  dread  that 
hangs  over  many  a girl.  Only  this  week  a little 
girl  sobbed  out  her  terrors  to  her  foreign  friend 
and  the  story  was  that  her  father  Avas  planning 
to  sell  her  to  AAdioever  Avould  give  the  best  price. 

Fear  of  being  married,  and  the  fear  of  being 
despised  if  not  married ; fear  of  bringing  bad 
luck  to  the  husband’s  family;  fear  of  her  hus- 
band’s displeasure,  but  greater  fear  of  the  moth- 
er-in-law, fear  of  childlessness,  fear  of  the  hus- 
band’s unfaithfulness;  the  ever  present  fear  of 
idols  and  evil  spirits,  all  hang  like  a cloud  over 
the  inner  life  of  the  woman.  Then  comes  the 
last  and  supreme  fear — that  of  death.  The  sting 
of  death  is  sin  and  they  have  not  heard  of  the 
Lamb  that  taketh  aAvav  the  sin  of  the  world, 
■5 


nor  of  the  perfect  Love  that  casteth  out  fear. 

In  the  end,  wherein  lies  the  difference  be- 
tween China  and  the  Christian  home  lands? 
Crimes  and  unkindness  are  found  there  also. 
True,  but  in  a Christian  land  the  sub-stratum  is 
the  Rock,  Christ  Jesus  and  however  miry  and 
depraved  the  debris  heaped  upon  it.  the  Rock 
abides  and  we  are  confident.  In  non-Christian 
lands  however  fair  and  smiling  the  exterior  we 
are  certain  that  by  probing  we  will  find,  not  the 
Rock,  but  black  and  fathomless  depths  of  selfish- 
ness and  hatred. 

If  the  best  that  a non-Christian  nation  can  do 
for  her  Avomen  is  so  hopelessly  inadequate,  shall 
not  Ave.  as  Christian  Avomen,  bring  to  them  the 
more  abundant  Life  that  these  daughters  of  the 
King  may  be  all  glorious  Avithin? 


Price , Five  Cents 

Woman’s  Baptist  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  West 
450  East  30th  Street 
Chicago 


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